This is the city: Los Angeles, California. I work here. I'm an ex-mayor. Los Angeles is a magnet for people from all over the world. Some of them run for public office. Inevitably some of them stray from the golden rule and rule for those that have the gold. That's when I go to work. My name is Yorty. I'm a dead pol.

Saturday, March 23, 2013

A Bloggin Broadside on Sue Burnside's Past "Ethical Issues"

Sue Burnside, the newly anointed savior of the Wendy "The Villar Greuel" Ground Campaign, has her own past issues with potential "Waste, Fraud and Abuse" of ex clients.

Political Consultant Sue Burnside (left) and Spouse.

** Blogger's Note: Great Saturday to all as the dust settles on the surprising campaign shake up within the Wendy "The Villar Greuel" for Mayor Campaign Team. With the announcement that longtime "Private Citizen/ Political Consultant" John Shallman, has chosen to team up again with noted Political Ground Campaign Consultant Sue Burnside, we could not help our bloggin selves in flashing back to previous Shallman/ Burnside Collaborations (think Torie Osborn, Brian Johnson, Chris "Mini Greuel" Essel and now Congresswoman Janice "Hahn-Weiss"). But being CD 14centric in most my musings, I cannot bloggin help making a "Cut and Paste Republic" connection to the shake up within "The Villar Greuel Campaign". Follow along as we flashback to the "Ben Austin/Robert Urteaga/Burnside Associates Signaturegate Scandal" (and lawsuit)---Scott Johnson.

One person who must be chuckling (and cringing) with the announcement of Burnside's hiring by the Villar Greuel Campaign, is Mayor Antonio Villar Education Reform ally Ben Austin. Austin would seem to be a given Villar Greuel supporter, considering that many within Mayor Villar's Education Machine (LAUSD School Board President Monica "Gorda Boo Boo" Garcia among those), have endorsed the third term, in waiting, incarnation of City Terrace Native's Political Machine. Yet, via a now litigious business arraignment involving Sue Burnside and former CD 14 City Councilman Nick Pacheco Campaign Manager Robert Urteaga, Ben Austin is not LAUSD School Board Member Ben Austin.

Urteaga had previous disposal proclivities it seems, like trying to dispose of his past criminal issues and allegedly depositing Austin's School Board signatures in a circular container, some background via the "LA4Kids Blog".

03/28/2009 07:05:25 AM PDT -- MONTEBELLO - A lawsuit filed against Burnside & Associates accuses Councilman Robert Urteaga of fraud and breach of contract for his work on a political campaign, officials said .Benjamin Austin claims the political consulting firm misrepresented him in his race for Los Angeles Unified School Board by failing to qualify him for the March 2009 ballot, according to a complaint filed March 3 with Los Angeles County Superior Court."At the end of the day, what happened was they told me they collected 500 signatures and validated them," Austin said. "They managed to collect them in the wrong district; they managed to use the wrong computer program to validate them."

..... and has Burnside & Associates had other "ethical issues"?

The complaint also accuses Urteaga of collecting signatures for a competing candidate simultaneously while working on Austin's campaign.The complaint goes on to say that Burnside & Associates should have disclosed Urteaga's felonious past to Austin.In 1998, Urteaga pleaded no contest to grand theft of personal property totaling $30,000, according to court documents. He originally was accused of five counts of check forgery and one count of grand theft, but the District Attorney dropped the forgery counts in a July 1999 plea agreement.This is not the first time Burnside & Associates has been accused of fraud. In October 2008, Joon Il Kim, 30, was sentenced 90 days in jail for filing a false affidavit while working on behalf of Burnside & Associates. Meanwhile, Austin tried contacting Burnside immediately after hearing he did not qualify. Burnside refused to take his calls and the two have still not spoken, according to the complaint. Austin is suing to cover legal and campaign expenses and for the damage it has done to his reputation, he said."I am not a litigious guy, never sued anyone before ...," Austin said. "They (Burnside & Associates) handled it in a pretty strange way. We reached out to them, the day it all happened and she (Burnside) wouldn't take my call."

Makes us wonder when the "Villar Greuel Campaign" will announce the "Waste, Fraud and Abusers of Campaign Laws Coalition for the Villar Greuel"?